The hozen marched around the small village, makeshift armor clattering loudly. They were not in step with one another. They barely were able to keep from running into one another. Their rifles were abominations that would probably explode by the third shot.

She turned her back on the scene, finally noting the Lorewalker standing next to the empty hut she had been barely managing to squeeze herself into each night. Finally something good. She strode over to him, her smile fading slightly as she noted the look of concern on his face.

"These hozen are behaving most unnaturally, Redakana. Marching in formation? In armor?

This troubles me. We must discuss it at another time, however. I have come to ask for your assistance."

He passed the small trinket over to her as he spoke. It was a request she was all too happy to fulfill. She was not needed for now in the hozen camp. Nazgrim had not even spoken with her since the reports were returned to him. Redakana was more than pleased to get away from this all for a while.

Besides, the tiny sky dragon was looking expectantly at her. "I am ready to go," she said, bowing her head to the tiny dragon, her smile spreading once more. A short, sharp chirp was the only reply before she was thrust skyward, soaring over the Jade Forest on the back of Mishi, grown to her full size.

Briefly thereafter Redakana laid her helmet on the ground before the shrine as Mishi flew off to return to the Lorewalker. She had to wait briefly as others paid their respect at Serpents Overlook, but it was worth the time. She set the small red scroll gently on its lip before lighting the incense. "Ancestors look over this place," she whispered. The smoke curled upward from the stick, tickling the nose of the paladin as she smiled. "And help the Lorewalker find that which he seeks." She crinkled her muzzle as the smoke caught in her nostrils brought on a sneeze.

It shook the whole of the shrine. Her eyes opened wide as she realized it something else was going on. Below she could see the hozen and jinyu forced below crash into one another below the Jade Serpent statue, artillery shaking the very air of the forest with each explosion.

"No," she whispered, awestruck as a shell impacted the base of the statue, sending a spiderweb of cracks upward. Large chunks of stone and jade fell from the masterpiece. It seemed to hang there awkwardly for a few seconds, shivers running through the magnificent carved jade dragon.

Redakana fell to the ground as the tower fell before her. Soldiers from both sides of the fighting scattered as it put an end to their skirmish. Then things got worse. She watched in horror as black clouds seeped from the ground, coalescing into the form of the Sha, towering where the Jade Serpent had once.

The shadow of the red sky serpent swept over her as the Lorewalker leaped down to the ground. She heard him speaking with the others gathered in witness of what had occurred below. She saw him shove a small cannon into the hands of another tauren. He was quickly off astride the cloud serpent, attempting to close the fissures that had opened.

"There will be many injuries." The voice of Lorewalker Cho finally reached her ears. "We must help those we can. I must consult the scrolls of my ancestors." That she could help with. It was a quick few strides that took her to the edge of the Overlook, then she was over, hooves sliding over the rough, rocky ground as she pushed herself into a sprint down the near vertical drop. Her eyes scoured the ground at the bottom of the cliff face. There, the water. Two more steps brought her to a drop off and she flung herself into the open air.

She squinted as the wind whipped her main into her eyes. Not too soon, just before the water so she would skip off it and not lose any speed. Now. She called for An'shi's protection, trying to pull the light about her.

Sunlight filtered through the treetops as Redakana slowly blinked. She must have caught a chill in her sleep, because where An'shi's ray's managed to break through to shine down upon her, she could feel almost a burning sensation. She chuckled softly as she closed her eyes again. She was too comfortable to rise for the moment, but the jade toned light was worth being awake for.

She took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the forest, a pleasant peaty smell that reminded her of the damp days of Mulgore, just as the sun broke through the rainclouds and began to dry the mud.

A hint of a frown crossed her face as her mind wandered back. That had been a horrid dream. Monkeys fighting fish. No more ale before bed she decided as she pushed the images out of her mind. She idly ran a hand over the ground she lay on instead, plucking a leaf up and twirling it in her hand.

The light caught it, filtering green light through, showing off the veins of the leaf between her fingers. It was odd though, not like the trees of Kalimdor. She let it drop to the ground as she took a deep breath again. Surely it was just the fog of sleep lifting.

"Ah, so you are not dead," a deep, jovial voice said, starting Redakana from her slow waking. Her hand lashed out to grab where her mace should have been laying beside her. It only came back with a handful of leaves as she sprang to her hooves.

Waves of pain crashed through her from her hooves to between her shoulder blades, sending her back to the ground with a cry of pain. She was back on the ground, muzzle and horns pressed against the leaves and dirt of the forest floor before she could do anything to catch herself.

"Calm yourself," the voice said, tinged with worry. "You are safe, but hurt. I am only trying to help you."

Redakana shifted on the ground, pushing her head up just enough to look up towards a large, round figure before her. Pandaren... that's what he was. Her mind collapsed in upon herself as all of what had happened since she made landfall flooded back.

The edges of her vision began to creep inward as she drew in a labored breath through the pain. "I'm sorry," she whipsered as she fell back face first against the ground, surrendering to the greenish black. "I'm sorry."

Last edited by Redwater on Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:47 am; edited 1 time in total

She opened her eyes once more to find the pandaren knelt over her. He whispered quietly as he held a hand over her chest. Jade mists flowed from his fingers, flowing over her body and sinking in. "It is alright," he said soothingly as she drew in a hesitant breath. The sparks of pain down her spine were gone, but a few fading aches were still present. "I must apologize, I had mended the bone, but I had underestimated the toll of the damage. You Yaungol are sturdy, and hide injuries well."

She rolled testing her injuries. "Tauren," she corrected quietly. It did seem to be better, even if a few aches remained. "Shu'halo, not Yaungol" she added as she pushed herself into a sitting position. The pandaren backed away, looking her over.

"Ah, I had heard the rumors. It explains your armor," he said as he motioned to the metal plates piled neatly next to where she had been laying. "You are one of those from beyond the mists." There was a hint of a frown on his face as he looked her over again. "But you are not one of those of the battle that brought down the statue?"

Redakan's head dropped as the memory of the statue crashing to the ground returned to her mind. "No," she whispered quietly, "but I am one of their force, or was." She shook her head slightly. "I did not wish for any of that, the battle, the destruction."

"You were not part of it in the condition you were in. It looked as if you had fallen from the cliffs above. Those are the shrines of my people, not a battlefield."

"I... was trying to reach the battlegrounds to help heal those injured, but.. the An'shi's light..." she trailed off as she looked upward. The sunlight was dim, blocked and changed by the jade canopy above them. Only hints of light made its way to the forest floor. "I failed the light."

The pandaren looked at her for a moment, pursing his lips. "A healer then." He glanced towards her armor. "You have seen much battle to need to wear that."

She smirked slightly as she reached out, picking up a shoulderplate. "A Sunwalker," she said. The fall had damaged it greatly, a trace of blood clung to the edge of the plate. "I was not always just a healer. I protected the others as well." She smirked slightly. "Often more than I should have."

"Can you walk perhaps?" the pandaren asked as he pushed himself to his feet and offered her a paw. "We can continue this in better conditions. Perhaps your path can be found once more over food and ale." He smiled to her.

Redakana took the offered paw and pulled herself to her feet with a slight groan. There was a reason that she was careful with the impulse to throw herself from cliffs. Hitting the ground was unpleasant as it had been conveyed. "I can," she finally responded. She gathered her armor in her cloak and followed the pandaren as he slowly walked through the forest.

She took a slow, deep breath as she sat on the forest floor with her eyes closed. It had taken time for all the aches to go away. Sitting alone in the forest with the jade light shining down upon her helped somewhat at least. It reminded her of the trees in Mulgore, high upon the cliffs when her mother graced her with a ride to their top. The feeling of emptiness somewhere inside however had not faded entirely though.

How could she have been so blind, not seeing what was coming with Nazgrim recruitment of the Hozen. She should have known what it would mean. Not merely establishing a base upon Pandara. She had watched the years of work of the Pandaren be smashed in seconds.

Her ears drooped slightly at the thought, the remembrance of the jade statue crashing to the ground. She had helped cause that, even if it was unintentional. She should have seen what was coming.

"Focusing upon the past will not change anything," the pandaren called out as he walked past her carrying a pair of buckets balanced on a pole across his shoulders. "Instead, you should be thinking of what you plan to do." He shrugged the pole off his shoulders, setting the buckets next to the pot on the fire. "You cannot simply stay here for the rest of your days." He glanced over and grinned. "That is my lot in life. Not yours."

Redakana blew an unhappy snort through her nose as she opened an eye and looked over. "And what would you have me do? Return to Kalimdor and work in the mines for Garrosh's forces? Arm the very beast that helped destroy?" She sighed and closed her eye again and took a breath. As little as she wanted to, he was right. She couldn't stay here forever. The pack would come looking if nothing else eventually.

Her eyes snapped open as she rolled forward to her feet, fists clenched as she ducked under the empty bucket that sailed right where her indignant head had formerly been. She glared towards the Pandaren as he laughed behind the pot of water. "Your reflexes are still keen," he said as he cracked an egg into the water of the pot. "I doubt they would suffer you to the mines. What would you have yourself do?"

She clenched her teeth as she forced herself to relax and walk over towards the small hut. "I would rather return to healing my pack, but the Light has abandoned me," she muttered. She dropped onto the log with a thump and watched her furry host work over the food.

"You are not without your own strength," he said as added a handful of dried spices. "You could draw upon that rather than look for strength from without."

"It is not the same."

"No? And what of your dealing with the sprites that had bothered me?" he asked as he took a sip, testing the contents of the pot. "You drove them off without this light."

"I punched them until the one fell. The rest ran away." She smirked at him and shook her head.

"You cracked him in two," he replied, letting the spoon drop onto the edge of the pot. "And BOTH halves crawled away in fear."

"I hate magic sometimes..."

He sighed as he added another pinch to the pot and stirred. "Tomorrow you shall train with me. You have meditated enough to focus. You shall learn to push yourself outward to help others again. And you will stop the incessant self-pity. You are annoying when you get like this."

Redakana leaned back and narrowed her eyes at him. "And yet, you always make me focus upon it," she replied before sticking her tongue out at him and crossing her arms.

The noodles found their mark dead center in her face, sliding off her muzzle with a wet plop. "Then prove me correct," he replied as he scooped more noodles into a bowl for himself, holding back the laugh that was already shaking his belly.

"Fine... fine..." she replied. She pulled a noodle from her horn and sucked it into her mouth and pushed herself to her feet once more. "Your cooking is still bland though," she added as she moved towards the pot.

"And yet, you continue to eat it," he replied with a grin.

* * * * * * * * * *

The days seemed like a blur as she trained. It definitely was more tiring than her training in Mulgore had been. Most nights she ended up sleeping with a half eaten bowl of noodles in her lap. At least it made breakfast easier.

It made her feel awkward at first. Everything the monk tried to show her ended with her trying to reproduce it with her own different physiology. The first kick she landed in the monk's midsection showed that she was not without her own advantages though. The product of years of heavy armor sent him rolling backwards into a tree unconscious.

She yelped in shock and ran to his side, laying her hands upon his chest. He didn't seem to be breathing as he laid at a funny angle against the tree. "You've seen him to it continuously," she muttered as she sighed. She closed her eyes and focused upon her self. The desire for him to be alright, then pushed it outwards with one final slow breath. Around her fingers, cool green mist coalesced and began to flow over the pandaran.

"Finally you begin to listen," he said, sending her tumbling away with a yelp. He chuckled softly as he pushed himself up against the tree and smiled at her. "Perhaps I was correct after all?"

Redakana shook her head. "Perhaps," she replied as she jumped to her feet and narrowed her eyes at him again. "Are you alright?"

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